This weekend a rally took place in Israel where people protested for “tax cuts,” “expansion of free education,” and “bigger government housing budgets.” I don’t know any more details about this protest other than what this article states, but there is a general theme in the world whereby people want government to solve their problems, and this protest appears to fit right into that theme. Aside from the fact that these demands do not even appear to be consistent (Are they seriously suggesting that government both decrease taxes and pay for more stuff? Evidently they intend to decrease spending and increase spending at the same time), let’s consider if it is even a good idea for government to solve any problems at all. Government is made of people, and they have their own interests. But the only person who can represent your interests is you. Unless you have a great deal of influence over government (and no, voting doesn’t count), then government is always going to conflict with your interests some of the time. You are therefore asking to be at least partially dissatisfied any time you want government to solve your problems. That doesn’t seem like a very good strategy for solving problems to me.

Update: The Government Can!

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